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Blavatnik Awards

Blavatnik Awards
October 8, 2025
Dana-Farber’s Philip J. Kranzusch Receives 2025 Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists

Philip J. Kranzusch, Ph.D., Professor of Cancer Immunology and Virology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, was one of three scientists awarded top honors at the 2025 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists, a significant prize for early-career researchers. Kranzusch, the Life Science Laureate, was recognized for discovering that human innate immunity evolved from ancient pathways in bacteria, explaining the molecular basis for how human cells defend against infections and cancer. Kranzusch is researching how human cells detect infection or cancer, thus deciding when to trigger an immune response – an essential function for diagnosing, treating, and preventing disease. Kranzusch said: “The Blavatnik Award is an incredible honor for our lab’s discovery of the origins of human innate immunity. We are excited to build on this new foundation to define universal rules that control immune signaling across all kingdoms of life.”

Blavatnik Awards
October 7, 2025
Trailblazing Young Scientists Honored with $250,000 Prizes at Blavatnik National Awards Gala

Three of America’s most promising young scientists were awarded top honors tonight at the 2025 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists, one of the country’s most significant prizes for early-career researchers. Presented by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and The New York Academy of Sciences, the awards recognize exceptional scientific achievement and innovation by U.S.-based researchers aged 42 and younger. This year’s Laureates were selected from a competitive pool of 310 nominees representing 161 academic and research institutions across 42 states. Eighteen Finalists emerged from this national search, and three were named Laureates by an independent jury of leading scientists. Each Laureate will receive an unrestricted award of $250,000, the world’s largest unrestricted science prize. The remaining fifteen Finalists will each receive $15,000.

Blavatnik Awards
September 26, 2025
Unveiling the Cosmos with Charlie Conroy

The finalists for the Blavatnik awards have been released and amongst them is Charlie Conroy, a Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University whose research probes the complex systems which exist throughout our universe: galaxies. Galaxies have elaborate structures made up of stars, gas and the elusive dark matter. These three components behave uniquely so understanding their motions is challenging especially when accounting for the interplay of these elements. I spoke to Charlie about his life, work and reaction to being nominated for the prestigious award. "It's nice to be in a cohort and be acknowledged and recognised with other scientists and from other disciplines." - said Charlie, who emphasised the cross-disciplinary nature of the award and that it’s an award “that honours young scientists, and there aren't really many awards that do that”. 

Blavatnik Awards
September 17, 2025
Emmys, Blavatnik Awards, Millennium Fellows, and More Accolades for Columbians

Columbia News produces a monthly newsletter and article series featuring a roundup of awards and milestones that Columbia faculty, staff, and students have received in recent days. Samuel H. Sternberg, Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, was named a finalist for the 2025 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists. Postdoctoral Researchers Yunjia Lai and Viraj Pandya were named finalists for the 2025 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists, which honors outstanding postdoctoral scientists from academic research institutions across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

Blavatnik Awards
September 16, 2025
Reviving Organobismuth Chemistry

Despite its low cost and low toxicity, bismuth has found limited applications in organic synthesis. Liam Ball is working to change that. ' Bismuth has had its ups and downs over the decades – a bit like the economy,’ says Liam Ball. But while the global economy is floundering at best, organobismuth chemistry is very much on the up and Ball’s research exemplifies this progress. Earlier this year, Ball was named the chemistry laureate at the 2025 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK, in recognition of his contributions to the safe and sustainable synthesis of molecules vital to healthcare and agriculture.

Blavatnik Awards
September 16, 2025
Outstanding Postdoctoral Researchers Honored with 2025 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists

The Blavatnik Family Foundation and The New York Academy of Sciences are proud to announce the three Laureates and six Finalists of the 2025 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists, the Blavatnik Awards’ flagship prize that honors outstanding postdoctoral scientists from academic research institutions across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Honoring early-career excellence in the categories of Life Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering, and Chemical Sciences, the Regional Awards celebrate the most promising postdoctoral scientists in the Tri-State area’s academic institutions. This year’s honorees were selected from a highly competitive pool of 149 nominations representing 26 institutions.

Blavatnik Awards
September 9, 2025
Finalists Announced for the 2025 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists

September 9, 2025 – New York – The Blavatnik Family Foundation and The New York Academy of Sciences today announced the Finalists for the 2025 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists. The Awards recognize scientific advances made by researchers in the United States across the following disciplines: Life Sciences, Chemical Sciences, and Physical Sciences & Engineering. Subra Suresh, ScD, Former Director of the National Science Foundation and current President of the Global Learning Council in Switzerland, will announce the three 2025 Laureates at an October 7th awards ceremony at the American Museum of Natural History. Each Laureate will receive an unrestricted award of $250,000, the world’s largest unrestricted science prize, available for early-career scientists in the U.S. The remaining 15 Finalists will each receive $15,000. An independent jury of expert scientists selected this year’s Finalists from a pool of 310 nominees representing 161 academic and research institutions across 42 U.S. states.

Blavatnik Awards
August 6, 2025
From the 2014 Blavatnik National Awards to the 2025 Soljačić Prize

A former Blavatnik National Awards Laureate has paid it forward with a prize recognizing scientific excellence in his home country. Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist and 2014 Blavatnik National Awards Laureate Marin Soljačić established the Soljačić Prize in his home country of Croatia. He used part of his $250,000 unrestricted prize money from the Blavatnik Award to create a prize that recognizes exceptional Croatian high school graduates in mathematics and physics, awarding $5,000 annually to outstanding students.

Blavatnik Awards
June 10, 2025
Chemist Wins Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists

Professor Liam Ball from the School of Chemistry at the University of Nottingham, UK, was recently named as one of the 2025 winners of the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists. The awards, established by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and The New York Academy of Sciences, are the largest unrestricted prizes for UK scientists under 42, with winners receiving £100,000 ($130,000) in funding. The award recognised Ball’s work with bismuth, a non-toxic element, which has enabled safer and more efficient herbicide development and drug production. He spoke to C&I about the work his team is doing.

Blavatnik Awards
June 5, 2025
Blavatnik Awards Honor Young Scientists at 2025 Ceremony in Tel Aviv

The 2025 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists ceremony took place on June 4 at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in Tel Aviv-Jaffa. Three early-career scientists from Israeli universities were each awarded an unrestricted grant of $100,000 for their groundbreaking research across three key scientific fields: Life Sciences; Chemical Sciences; and Physical Sciences & Engineering. The Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in Israel are given alongside the international awards presented annually in the United States and Britain.

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